Client Stories’ Finest Used Automobile Suggestions for July 2025

Is paying artificially inflated costs and going into debt essential to personal an acceptable automobile?

Will you need to accept used fashions with fewer security options and questionable reliability?

By no means. A brand new replace on used automobile buying demonstrates that Client Stories automotive consultants are serving to customers discover used-car choices that may save them as much as tens of hundreds of {dollars} whereas nonetheless permitting customers to personal a secure automobile with fashionable security options and a confirmed monitor file of reliability―all by making use of an analogous degree of rigor and selectively as they do of their new automobile evaluations.

Tariffs are Inflation on the Horizon

CR analysts notice that as a result of right this moment’s present customers are involved about looming inflation and the uncertainty of tariffs and their affect on customers, shopping for a used automobile could make good financial sense for many households.

“With the traditionally excessive worth of latest autos nowadays, increasingly individuals are naturally trying to the pre-owned market searching for a greater discount,” says Alex Knizek, affiliate director of auto check improvement at Client Stories. “However they should not must sacrifice security, reliability, or gas financial system to remain inside their finances. That is why we now current Used Automobile Prime Picks and have expanded our used-car protection and insights.”

Client Stories is well-known for its informative new automobile evaluations, by which it has highlighted distinctive vehicles, SUVs, and vans gleaned by way of intensive testing and buyer survey knowledge.

Of their evaluation of used autos CR automotive consultants take into account the next elements:

1. Nice new vehicles do not at all times make nice used vehicles, particularly when factoring in depreciation and long-term reliability.
2. To determine good decisions, used vehicles have been chosen from a technology perspective fairly than a model-year perspective.
3. The good thing about a technology perspective is that it persistently reveals the fashions that grew to become extra trouble-free over a technology’s multiyear span; the final two years of a technology are typically the very best.
4. Security options in new fashions present in used fashions are one other qualifying consideration.
5. Automobile worth is important, as some fashions depreciate greater than others, making them a discount as a used automobile in comparison with different used automobile fashions of the identical age.
6. Used automobile customers should bear in mind that every automobile is exclusive, has its historical past, and should be inspected by an expert mechanic earlier than shopping for.

“The technique we make use of for choosing used vehicles emphasizes worth inside a worth vary, and it implies that the highlighted fashions might not have been the highest-scoring fashions when examined new. As an alternative, they’re usually good vehicles that depreciated greater than others, making them extra engaging as used vehicles than they have been when new,” states the replace.

THE BEST CAR TOP PICKS BY CONSUMER REPORTS

SEDAN UNDER $10,000

2016 Mazda 6 (Era 2014-2011)

Value Vary: $8,550 – $11,325

Proprietor Reported MPG: 29 mpg

SEDAN UNDER $15,000

2019 Toyota Corolla (Era 2014-2019)

Value Vary: $12,925 – $16,230

Proprietor Reported MPG: 32 mpg

SUV UNDER $15,000

2018 Mazda CX-5 (Era 2017-2025)

Value Vary: $12,025 – $16,450

Proprietor Reported MPG: 26 mpg

HYBRID UNDER $20,000

2019 Toyota Camry Hybrid (Era 2018-2024)

Value Vary: $16,875 – $21,450

Proprietor Reported MPG: 45 mpg

SMALL SUV UNDER $20,000

2021 Kia Sportage (Era 2017-2022)

Value Vary: $14,925 – $19,475

Proprietor Reported MPG: 25 mpg

HYBRID SUV UNDER $20,000

2018 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid (Era 2016-2018)

Value Vary: $15,800 – $20,650

Proprietor Reported MPG: 32 mpg

3-ROW SUV UNDER $20,000

2018 Mazda CX-9 (Era 2016-2023)

Value Vary: $12,175 – $17,300

Proprietor Reported MPG: 23 mpg

LUXURY SUV UNDER $20,000

2017 Lexus NX (Era 2015-2021)

Value Vary: $17,500 – $20,300

Proprietor Reported MPG: 25 mpg

PICKUP TRUCK UNDER $20,000

2015 Toyota Tacoma (Era 2005-2015)

Value Vary: $13,675 – $20,025

Proprietor Reported MPG: 19 mpg

SPORTS CAR UNDER $20,000

2020 Mazda MX-5 Miata (Era 2016-2024)

Value Vary: $15,350 – $21,475

Proprietor Reported MPG: 32 mpg

There’s Extra to Shopping for a Used Automobile Than Its Value… It is What Occurs After

Though you’ll have the really helpful pre-purchase inspection earlier than shopping for that used mannequin and the vendor’s assurance that every part is on the up and up, there are vital issues that must be taken care of afterward on this order:

1. Switch the title and registration — go to your native DMV instantly to make sure the automobile is legally in your identify. Watch out for curbstoning scams.
2. Get insurance coverage protection — ensure you have applicable and reasonably priced insurance coverage protection in place earlier than you drive a lot additional.
3. Get a full mechanical inspection — this may uncover hidden points missed through the pre-purchase inspection and aid you deal with them early earlier than they turn into pricey.
4. Change all fluids and filters — together with engine oil, transmission fluid, coolant, brake fluid, air filters, and cabin filters. Do not assume they have been modified or modified accurately.
5. Test or change the timing belt or chain — if the automobile has a timing belt or timing chain and there is no proof it was lately modified, changing it could possibly stop catastrophic engine injury.
6. Test tires and brakes — be sure that they’re secure and never worn past their limits.
7. Replace upkeep information and begin a log — to maintain monitor of what is been carried out and when, staying on prime of future automobile upkeep.

For extra latest Client Stories suggestions, listed below are just a few to your consideration:

Timothy Boyer is an automotive reporter based mostly in Cincinnati who at the moment researches and works on restoring older autos with engine modifications for improved efficiency. He additionally studies on fashionable vehicles (together with EVs) with a deal with DIY mechanics, shopping for and utilizing instruments, and different associated topical automotive restore information. Observe Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites in addition to on Fb and his automotive weblog “Zen and the Artwork of DIY Automobile Restore” for helpful every day information and matters associated to new and used vehicles and vans.

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